Glass artist hopes to break Mideast ice

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Inspired by a tradition thousands of years
old, celebrated glass artist Dale Chihuly has produced works
on display in Israel of exceptional contemporary originality.

Some have admired the modern message of Chihuly's 10,000
glass pieces, on exhibit in the courtyard of an ancient
citadel. But a handful of critics contend that the Seattle-
based artist's work presents a naive view of a historic
conflict.

"It's an homage that he is making to Jerusalem on the eve of
the millennium," says Deborah Lipson of the Tower of David
Museum. "Chihuly is very aware of the historical nature of
Jerusalem, the fact that it's a city that is so important to
Jews and to Christians and to Muslims."

Spurred by the success of the exhibit, Chihuly flamboyantly
erected a wall of ice outside the 16th-century walls. The
glassblower considers the melting of 64 tons of Alaskan ice a
symbol of dissolving barriers between Israelis and Arabs.

"Maybe it could be a metaphor for the melting of tensions for
this part of the world and especially for this city
Jerusalem," the artist offers. "Maybe they could go into the
new millennium with more joyous, more peaceful thoughts."

Glassblowing took root in the Middle East more than 2,000
years ago. The techniques still practiced by Palestinians
have served as an inspiration, Chihuly says. Among the
300,000 visitors in the first three months, however, few have
been Palestinians.

Palestinian artists, while lauding the work, scorn what they
call an uninformed political message.

"For the Palestinians, it's a kind of hostile place. It does
not give them a hospitable feeling when they go there," says
Sliman Mansour of the League of Palestinian Artists.

"It's a kind of political propaganda for the Israelis and
their history in this land, and they wipe out any history for
us and other people here."

The glassblower's magnum opus, however, is beyond politics.
In his Crystal Mountain, light and heat sensors embedded in
the crystals are connected to a computer programmed to
create and play sounds in response to sunshine penetrating
the glass. The sounds are based on the prayers of Judaism,
Christianity and Islam.

"This is a very sacred area, and glass is the most magical of
all materials," Chihuly said. "It's the most extraordinary
material that man makes. You take only the sand from the
desert and you put fire with it and you have glass.

"What more incredible material could you possibly have ...
and then the light comes through it and makes unbelievable
colors."